First Movies of Sakura Wars III!

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See first video footage of Sakura Wars III and all other Sakura Wars games inside!

By IGN Staff

We revealed bucket loads of information on Sakura Wars III and the various other Sakura Wars products yesterday, and the information is continuing today in our other numerous Sakura Wars articles. The information from yesterday was actually unleashed in live event in Japan, similar to Sega's unveilings last year of Sonic Adventure and Shenmue. The event was broadcast live via the 'net, the only problem being that due to time differences, in order to witness the event, we American folk would have to have stayed up past 4:00AM, and on a school-night no less!

Thankfully, Sega has recently made the event stream available for all to see at their own convenience. And it turns out that midway through the stream, we're given a glimpse of Sakura Wars III in action, with Oogami arriving in Paris for the first time. The footage, set against Chisa Yokoyama's rendition of the game's opening theme from part 2, is breathtaking to say the least. It seems to be a mix of CG and handdrawn animation, with the characters handdrawn and the surroundings CG. We're shown footage of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower in the distance, as well as Kokuriko (see today's other Sakura Wars article) doing acrobatics. Following a scene of the game's mechs, the theme song stops, and explosions consume Paris, bringing a dramatic end to the clip.

Any Sakura Wars fan (or anyone even slightly interested in the game) ought to endure the streaming video broadcast in order to see this footage. The broadcast is quite long, unfortunately, and it's entirely in Japanese, so we've decided to make things easy on you by giving you a little guide to what's going on throughout the course of the event. We've also included a few time marks in the guide so that you can forward to points of interest.

Follow the link that most suites your connection and software availability, and enjoy!

Things begin with a performance by the Sakura Wars voice actresses. Yes, those are the actual voice actresses who voice the characters during the game. They can actually dance WHILE doing their voices! GAD-ZOOKS!

Shoichiro Irimarjiri takes the stage and announces Sakura Wars III for the DC, to the applause of the crowds.

Hiroi Ouji, producer of the game, game developer extraordinaire, announces details on all aspects of Sakura Wars.

Shinguji Sakura and Maria Tachibana (well, their voice actors) take the stage, in costume, speaking in the character voices.

Between 14.30 and 18.00, we're shown what we've been hoping to see for the longest time now: actual footage of Sakura Wars III. WOO-HOO!!! The audience cheers following this demonstration.

Sakura, Maria, and Hiroi Ouji chat some more. I'm not sure (sorry, the IGNTV guys were watchying Springer while I was viewing this part), but I believe Sakura is joking about her being in Japan while Oogami is in France.

The new version of the Teikokukagekidan is pronounced "Parikagekidan", which is short for Paris-kagekidan.

The audience gasps as Sakura announces that Fujishima Kousuke (character designer) will be taking the stage (21.00). He does so, along with a few other designers, Akahori Satoru (the scenario writer for the game), Tanaka Kouhei (the music composer), and a few others. Satoru explains the story behind the game, then Fujishima takes the stage, wearing his typical shades. He explains the characters in the game. Following this, Tanaka arrives on stage and explains the music behind the game. This guy was the music composer for parts 1 and 2 - and if you want my opinion on the matter, he did a brilliant job (especially in part 2!).

Next, to explain the game system, a producer from Sega of Japan, Ooba Moriashita (I believe this is his name), takes the stage. Head out to anywhere between positions 33.00 and 40.00 in the stream to check out more scenes from the game. There are a few interesting things revealed during this part, including the notion of a Seamless Adventure, so we'll see little load time. Also explained are the Anaolgue Lips part of the game. You can apparently use the analogue triggers to determine the degree of your response to questions. Finally, the Active SLG (simulation) means that there will be be some form of action element to the simulation part.

At the announcement that the VMU will be used as a Kinematron (the tool used for communication in part 2, the audience cheers wildly. We're then shown a scene of Sakura Wars III in the background of a guy holding a Dreamcast controller. You can clearly see Sumire in there (so, she obviously will be appearing in the game), with a text box of Oogami speaking. The scene of Sumire is full screen, it seems (different from part 1 and 2, which took up only part of the screen), and a little mini image of Sumire sppears on the VMU.

The MC's then explain the Drama Download System whereby you'll be able to download new dramas to the system via the 'net, and they will enter into the game.

Hiroi Ouji explains the animation - a combination of CG and anime.

Oogami-san, the game's main character, enters the scene, along with with Fujieda Kaeru to introduce the other Sakura Wars games

Go to position 42.00 for shots of Hanagumi Columns 2. There's a network mode in columns, along with a story mode that looks like it's out of part 2 of the game. Leni and Orihime have been added for this version of the game (they were absent from part 1 for obvious reasons - they hadn't been introduced to the series yet!

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Go to position 43.00 for shots of the new fan/drama disk set for release next year. Again, there's an adventure mode which looks like it's from part 2 of the game. There are also some mini games featuring lots of sprites, with Oogami passing out pamphlets for a play presentation (that's what he seems to be doing, at least).

Go to position 44.00 for Sakura Wars 1 and Sakura Wars 2 re-release shots (the audience goes wild at the announcement of this). The FMV seems to fill up the the sides of the screen (left to right, although there are boarders on top and bottom - this would have to be there in order to keep with the dimensions of the previous movies). The new internet mode for the games is also shown.

Sakura Wars GB (for the GameBoy) is shown at position 47.20. The Daiteikokukagekidan looks great, as do the character portraits. Unfortunately, the stream seems to be show no movement what-so-ever - The Red Company needs to borrow IGN Pocket's Gameboy video grabber!

Iris appears, teddy-bear in hand - MAKE SURE YOU LOWER YOUR VOLUME FOR THIS PART, AS HER HIGH-PITCHED VOICE NEARLY BURST MY YEARS! Kanna is by her side. The two announce the various other Sakura Wars products.

The show goes on and on with performances of the voice actors and what not, although most of the interest lay in the above parts. If you don't' want to sit through the whole thing, I'd suggest that you definitely skip to the Sakura Wars III footage - it will leave you breathless (assuming you have a good-enough connection!).